New things are always fun, filling us with excitement, hope and a sense of possibility. After Gavin Newsom was elected governor, he said two things that signaled a new era:
1. He established a moonshot goal of building 3.5 million new homes by 2025 to make up for decades of under-production
2. He called out cities and counties who have created barriers to housing development
As heartening as it was to hear such aspirations, we couldn’t help but wonder – how is he planning to do that?
The answer came very soon, as Newsom unveiled his multi-pronged strategy to address the housing crisis by March. In addition to deploying the resources coming from the passage of two housing bonds last November, he is proposing $1.75 billion through the state budget process for homelessness, local planning for housing, an expansion of the state tax credit program, and new “missing middle” funding. Along with these carrots, he has committed to expanding city requirements to meet housing goals and threatened to take away transportation dollars from bad actors.
Pretty heady stuff for housing developers and advocates who have been starved for serious action for decades.
We commend the governor’s zeal for addressing the crisis, even while harboring reservations about some of the subsidy resources being directed to moderate income uses. Indeed, it feels as though we are entering an era of unprecedented commitment to affordable housing. As always, we will continue our commitment to ensuring that an appropriate share of funding is accessible to San Joaquin Valley families and communities in need.
